The much anticipated results of the standards decision on Microsoft’s OOXML results are in, yet ISO seems to be stalling making the official announcement. OOXML is the Office Open XML document file Microsoft has been trying to make one of the industry standards to compete with Open Office and others using the now-standard ODF (open document format).

ISO (International Organization for Standards) is stalling the announcement. When questioned they say they want to let their officers know the verdict before the public. The plan to make the announcement on Wednesday, April 2nd. This makes me think they will be announcing an approval, either full or partial, or the OOXML format, mainly because approval would be such a good joke for April Fool’s,the day before.

We won’t know before Wednesday what the decision was, but we do know that it is hotly contested. Countries in the ISO have been switching votes more often than a politician switches votes on a hot button issue. Some countries have published their individual votes it they have locked them in, but most are holding off until the big announcement.

If Microsoft gets its technology approved, it will be a blow to internet connectivity and issues of data ownership. They already refuse to comply with web standards for their Internet Explorer browser and make using their operating systems next to impossible, especially the newest version of Windows, Vista. To assume they’d remain compliant with ISO regulations once approved is ludicrous, this is, after all, Microsoft we are talking about.

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Entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 12:00 am under Uncategorized.

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